Astornet Technologies Inc. v. BAE Systems, Inc., — F.3d —- (Fed. Cir. 2015) Although a patentee can sue the U.S. government for unlicensed use of its invention, Congress requires that those cases be filed in the Court of Federal Claims (CFC) rather than in district court. No jury trial is available, and the only remedy is a reasonable royalty. The statute also protects companies doing work for the U.S. – providing cover by limiting the cause of action. Whenever an invention described in and covered by a patent of the United States is used or manufactured by or for the United States without license of the owner thereof or lawful right to use or manufacture the same, the owner’s remedy shall be by action against the United States in the United States Court of Federal Claims for the recovery of his reasonable and entire compensation for such use and manufacture. 28 U.S.C. § 1498. The common interpretation of this section is – when the U.S.…
↧